Afghans Build Open Source Internet From Trash 140
An anonymous reader writes "Residents of Jalalabad have built the FabFi network: an open-source system that uses common building materials and off-the-shelf electronics to transmit wireless ethernet signals across distances of up to several miles."
Re:Any real information? (Score:4, Informative)
Maybe RTFA if you are that interested. I seem to have been able to find all the information on how to set it up and even read through the wiki with the server setup required.
You must really fail at the Internet if you don't know how to click on a link...
Re:Semantics maybe... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Any real information? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Any real information? (Score:2, Informative)
They're not doing any crappy little cantennas, they're building fair-sized (2 to 16 ft^2) dishes with chicken-wire or window screen stretched over a wood or plastic frame.
Re:What they're really using it for... (Score:3, Informative)
Is there even one Muslim country where porn is not outlawed?
Is there even one Muslim country where porn is not found?
No. 1 Nation in Sexy Web Searches? Call it Pornistan [foxnews.com]
Random connection: Exclusive: Pornography found in bin Laden hideout: officials [reuters.com]
Far more troubling than the porn:
"I hope that Kuwait will enact the law for...sex slaves" [jihadwatch.org]
"When I want a sex slave, I just go to the market and choose the woman I like and purchase her" [jihadwatch.org]
Pakistan: In the Land of Conspiracy Theories [pbs.org]
What explains those crazed conspiracy theories running wild in Pakistan? [jihadwatch.org]
Re:Any real information? (Score:4, Informative)
The Rob Flickenger "cantenna" design doesn't work. A Pringles tube is too small to be resonant anywhere near 2.4GHz, and the threaded rod with the stack of washers just blocks the signal from coming out of the end. It actually works better sideways, since the cardboard doesn't block any of the signal (and the silvery plastic doesn't act as a reflector).
Stopped waveguide antennas *do* work, but for a "cantenna" like that to work it would need to be about 80mm diameter and much shorter. I've built a couple like this, and they give about 6-8dB gain over a dipole. The really neat thing is that you can use them as a dish feed, although on all but the largest satellite dishes you find lying around it will be grossly over-illuminated. If you really want to feed a dish, put a USB wifi (or bluetooth) dongle in a corner reflector at the focus of an old satellite dish - make a wooden block that holds the USB dongle just about 5mm back from the front of where the LNB would go.
Incidentally, "Cantenna" is the name of an old Heathkit dummy load, so be careful asking radio amateurs about them - depending on the context you could be talking about a stopped waveguide or an old paint tin full of resistors, sand and engine oil...
It's worth pointing out that it's probably illegal to do this in most countries, without an appropriate licence. In Afghanistan, I suspect it's not a big deal.